we were up at the crack of dawn today....we had many jobs to do. here are some purple finches in our apple tree. they come every day for the goodies that we provide. jambaloney has a bird book and has marked every bird that we have seen here. i'll do up a list one day in a post.
here's a closer pic of them...sooo beautiful - we get tons of birds that stay here throughout the summer and winter...and then we have the migratory ones who only stay a few days to eat from the feeders and then move on. no worries - we love them all!
breakfast began with our morning shakes....this particular one is apple, pear, carrot, mango and blueberries that we picked ourselves last year from our friend d's blueberry farm. we worked for blueberries. and then froze them. and are still enjoying the most natural and fresh picked blueberries 4 months before blueberry season! ya just can't beat that.
after some odd jobs not worth mentioning it was time for breakfast proper. there's nothing like sushi for breakfast!
the day was a little hazy but hot with a lovely wind blowing from the ocean - deeevine, i say!
we planted 5 different kinds of carrots and one row of spinach with the transplanted kale bed.
by this time it was time for dinner. jambaloney thought it would be fun to combine lobster with macaroni...something very expensive with something so cheap.
it actually worked out really well...i mixed the macaroni with a ton of butter, EVOO, and three tablespoons of mayo - i have to admit it was divine. and funny. mixing such extravagent lobster with cheap macaroni - bahahahahah! what can i say kids? we live in a place where lobster is very cheap and easy to get during the season?!?!?!?
then we went back out and planted a bunch of radish and beets and 2 more rows of spinach.
kids - look below and beware.
our first year here i started everything in peat pellets. and learned that they do not decompose, strangle roots of plants and such. these are peat pellets from six years ago that jambaloney dug out of one of our beds. we have been finding these things all over the place. NOT decomposed. i will never use them again!
we stopped for our mid-afternoon snack to keep you going throughout the rest of the day - introducing kymberz gazpacho....not for the faint of heart!
tomatoes, onion, avocado, lime juice, EVOO, ACV, chives, mango, peach, garlic, cumin, cayenne, paprika, turmeric and salt and pepper. THIS WILL clean out your sinuses.
and look - finally a tulip appeared in the tulip package i ordered but most are actually daffodils. no worries - i love any kind of flower!
and dandelions. considered a weed but are so essential to health and well-being. go here for more info on the benefits of dandelion. For my friend TB - make sure to read this link and then do some more searches - dandelions are not a weed - they are our friends!
you know spring is really here when you hear "sip-ang-zap-zing"....the hummingbirds are back! wooohoo!
we set up a feeder at the front and back of the house and will set up our other 4 feeders tomorrow - we love hummingbirds! and guess what they love? comfrey! we will be sending our friend W and P comfrey roots on monday when jambaloney goes into work.
kids - when you cook from scratch, it looks like this every day. these are the normal pots used in making breakfast, dinner and supper everyday!
but we are finally at the time of year that jambaloney can wash the pots outside and let them dry outside. these are pots and utensils that don't go into the dishwasher. the dishwasher gets run every day as well.
T...one of our delivery guys that knows to call ahead of time called and said he had a package for us. he said "i will just toot the horn at the bottom of the driveway?" and i said "yes. when my husband hears the toot he will run down the driveway and get the package". he said "you make him do all the hard work, eh?" then we both laughed.
and now kids - i own every single book that Umberto Eco has written up to today - the man is so prolific he might have just released another book!!!!
jambaloney and i sat out in our sky-loungers this afternoon after we were finished planting, preparing food and cooking, and doing other odd jobs - and i read him, out loud, the first 2 chapters of "The Prague Cemetary". so far, it looks like this book will be along the same lines as "foucault's pendulum" which we screeched over reading it out loud twice. this book is a definite keeper and we haven't even finished it.
jambaloney - who never reads my posts by the way - arrrghghghhg....he thinks that i got Eco's how to write a thesis is because i am a trained linguist and very interested in semiotics...has no idea that i got the book for him. he has done 3 years of a biology degree...and then switched over to a philosophy degree with honours. my plan is to send him back to university to finish his biology degree and then get his masters. he loves the flora and fauna here in cape breton.....no one has ever documented the flora and fauna in cape breton and that is my dream for him. he will lay in the sun in the backyard, frontyard, down at the river, and down at the ocean and listen to me read this book to him. i will plant seeds as it is my favourite thing to do....but i will plant seeds in his mind from Eco's book on how to write a thesis.
oh yes - i am a witch with magical powers - bhahahahahah!
for those of you who expressed interest in the baby oil and coffee grinds....years ago...too many to say, my work sent me to australia for a week conference. and encouraged me to take 3 extra days and stay in hawaii. how i wished that jambaloney had joined me....but we had just bought our beautiful house in the city and we were stretched thin and didn't want to use credit.
but while there, i bought maui baby browning lotion. and when i got home, i read the contents...some special ingredients but it was basically baby oil and coffee grinds. i have been making my own ever since.
you will need specialized equipment to make your own. like a container, some coffee grinds and baby oil. let it sit for a couple of days, strain it....and you basically have brown baby oil. it stains you as you suntan, i swear by it.
and i know a lot of you have experienced a relative, or experienced skin cancer yourselves, but this is something i enjoy and i know when to call it quits in the sun. i am a sun baby. jambaloney not so much. he does not get the coffeed baby oil. he goes out in the early morning with nothing on him to produce natural vitamin D...and right about 11am is when we slather him down with sunscreen.
check out these beautiful tiny-tines.
i have no idea what they are and really don't care to know. but if someone does know - leave a comment.
here they are up closer.
soooo gorgeous.
and we have blue tiny-tines too! i love them!
supper was a curry of chicken, potatoes, carrots, turnip, home-canned tomatoes, home-canned broth and my own home-made curry powder. served with delicious peaches as the garnish.
we sat out front this eve and enjoyed looking at our view. of course we were butt nekkid and really need to find the cushions for our rocking chairs.
the man had his binoculars and saw trout jumping in strachan's brook.
so off he went with his waders and fishing gear....hopefully to catch us a fantastic trout breakfast for tomorrow. we're both sunstroked - no matter. we weren't in the sun too long and for most of the day we had our horrid bug suits on. i'll take a pic of jambaloney in our crazy bug suits and post it here.
for now, my man if off fishing and i am going to check on my fave blogs. then we're having "song night". my friend Harry will understand what that means.
after such a beautiful day, it's hard not to try and send love to all of you. i hope that you feel all of this love. xoxox
he's home and he caught us some beautiful breakfast! he's out cleaning the trout and will have a fishing post up tomorrow.
we love life. and we hope that you all do, too. now i gotta go and kiss my fishy-provider. there is nothing in the world that i love more than that man. xoxox to all of you!
(p.s. - sorry if this is mushy - but our blog is not about audience - it's about recording our days!)
Apparently, you have a loyal audience anyway, best to both of you.
ReplyDeletethank you Gorges. we know that we can always count on you to drop in. sending love to you and yours! xoxo
DeleteI feed the dandelions to my hens. They devour them.
ReplyDeleteIf all goes well, I'll be putting in my garden this week! (Finally)
Michelle - i am sure the hens loooove those dandelions and think they are a super treat! dandelions are so full of healthy good stuff whether it be for people or animals. and woohoo - getting your garden i is such a fun, difficult, rewarding and super hard task but makes you feel soooo good! take lots of pics! sending love. xoxo
DeleteYou have some lovely meals, I adore sushi and one day I will get round to doing some, Martin is learning to dive in readiness to getting his boat, so we hope plenty of shell fish will be on the menu, we are having a day off today and going to a smallholders show we worked until late night getting the new growing area finished, I would love to have humming birds visit but they dont come to our country, it must be great to see those flashes of colour zip by.
ReplyDeleteDawn - we had about 50 different sushi restaurants when we lived back in the city and ate out at them 2-3 times a week. but there are no sushi restaurants here on the island so we had to make our own. except that we didn't have any of the proper sushi implements. so i did some digging and found "chirashi sushi" which is simply making a sushi-like salad. you put the sticky rice on a plate and then put your shrimp, crab, tuna, avocado, carrot, cucumber on top of the rice. chiroshi is excellent when you are craving sushi but don't have the time to make the rolls. after much practice, jambaloney learned how to make the rolls right on the table and roll them up. you don't need any fancy sushi-making stuff.
Deletewhat kind of boat is Martin getting? and shellfish is very plentiful here as well as clams, mussels and snails which we go out and get ourselves down at the ocean - yummeh!
i'll be sure to put up our list of birds - we don't have a ton of different birds but we do have some unique ones. and yes, the hummingbirds make such a unique sound when they zip by, are soooo tiny and cute - but my goodness are they mean little birds - bahahah! they guard their feeders and they won't let anyone else have a drink and chase each other off the feeders - it's a hoot to watch! sending love. xoxo
What a wonderful time, thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteand thank you for stopping by and enjoying Fiona! sending love to you and Ralph! xoxo
DeleteI look forward to your bird list so I can see how yours in the far north differ from mine.
ReplyDeleteYay on the fishing! We've gotten to fish twice in recent weeks, catching bass galore!
Kelly - i will definitely share our bird list and then you can do the same and we can compare. we don't have a ton of different birds, but we do have a lot of migratory birds that stop by for a few days on their way south. i am glad you have already been out fishing - jambaloney has to go out and get us some bass too - we looooove bass! glad you got so much! sending love. xoxo
DeleteNo it's kissing fish.... Not fishy-providers. You need more fish kissing as it's been a while since you talked about it.
ReplyDeleteSome restaurant down here actually serves a Lobster Mac-n-cheese. Can't remember which one though but I know I have seen it/had it.
PP - let me try and explain this to you again. kissing the fish is a newfoundland tradition...it's when you get screeched in (take your first hit of screech). then you kiss a cod. the only reason it ever happened at one of our dances is because one of our buddies who is from newfoundland had a bunch of his newfoundland relatives down and a few of them needed to be screeched in.
Deletethe cape breton tradition of "kissing something" is that if we are away from cape breton and come home, we kiss the causeway which is the manmade road that connects cape breton to the mainland. i know - not as exciting to you as kissing fish, ya nutter!
ya, i've heard of mac n cheese - never had it tho. and now that we are off dairy, probably never will. was it any good? sending lots of love to my crazy bro! xoxox
Kymber's Gazpacho: Challenge acccepted.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! - Much Love, TB
TB - some gazpachos are more soupy, which is normally the way i make mine. but i made this one a little chunkier just so that i could have the feeling of chewing. do you make gazpacho? do you put in pear and mango as well? i have also been known to put in oranges and grapefruit as well. but i really load it up with the spices and garlic. it really clears your head - bahahahah! and do some more searches on the benefits of dandelions....i wonder if the bunnies can eat them??? sending much love to you! xoxox
DeleteI got you covered, Kymber.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you record your days. It's relaxing to read about you and J up there. Someday M and I will have to come see your manor for ourselves. It sure does look beautiful, and peaceful.
thanks buddy - i knew you would be the only one to understand the reference!!!!
Deletei like the way you record your days, too...and enjoy your magazine reviews and all such else that you write about...especially little trips in to town with M. it would be lovely for you guys to visit - i really think you would enjoy the solitude and privacy. sending much love to you and yours, as always! xoxoxo
I love the love you two generate from up/over there. I can feel it down here. Keep it coming! I also love anything but breakfast food for breakfast. Sushi rocks!
ReplyDeleteSusan - what a very sweet thing to say - thank you! and WHAT?!?!?! sushi isn't a normal breakfast thing?!?!?!? bahahahahah! sending much love. xoxox
DeleteWhat about orzo with the lobster. And blend the lobster shells up for bisque and spoon that over the top of them both. Complete moment of Homer Simpson, drooling ... yum. OMG yum
ReplyDeletethat should say orzo. I dont know what happened.lol
ReplyDelete